


My Love Keeps Me Warm

by kirani



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Samwell, Anal Sex, Antarctica, Dirty Talk, F/M, Feelings Realization, Foursome - F/M/M/M, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Hand Jobs, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Multi, Oral Sex, POV William "Dex" Poindexter, Pegging, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Science, Sex Before Feelings, Spitroasting, Vaginal Sex, Winter, very very light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-22 23:46:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19139287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani/pseuds/kirani
Summary: Will Poindexter is not looking forward to six months of darkness at the remote Antarctica scientific base he’s stationed at, until his colleague Derek Nurse approaches him with a mutually beneficial arrangement, and then one thing leads to another and, well, the dark gets a lot more interesting.~Title from Mary Lambert’s “She Keeps Me Warm”Artby the amazing Denois, thank you for letting me turn your adorable art into a smut fest for the Reverse Bang!Beta’d by shadowfaerieammy





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So this setting may seem a bit unbelievable or farcical, but it is, in fact, true that scientists stationed in Antarctica [really like to party](https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/tales-of-rampant-sex-reveal-polar-life-is-anything-but-frigid/news-story/123ecb72cb2b7f28113b1e070de74b3a). The supply shipments do include thousands of condoms, and the scientist there commonly strike up ice wives/ice husbands to get through the long, dark winter. There’s also quite a lot of drug and alcohol use, but I’m ignoring that in this fic. And though some of the IRL scientists have extramarital relationships, none are in this fic. There is, however, a _lot_ of sex.

Will Poindexter had heard the stories, of course. He had been in this field for over a decade. He knew what winter in Antarctica was like. 

But he was still scared. 

He had spent the last five months at one of the smaller bases with a crew of nearly two hundred other scientists. But today, most of that crew would be heading for home, leaving him with only the skeleton crew of seven other people to run the station over the six months of Antarctic winter, stretching impossibly long and dark from April through September.

Summer in Antarctica wasn’t anything like the summers back home in Maine. It was still largely a frozen tundra, but the work he was able to do and the team he got to work with made it enjoyable. 

He had spent days kayaking down the ice channels that formed in the cracks in the ice, traveling to observe penguin migrations. He had drilled through several meters of ice to retrieve samples. He had left the first set of human footprints on a vast landscape that may never see another human besides his crew. 

It had been amazing. 

But for the next six months, he wouldn’t see the sun. And he was scared. 

He was excited for the crew they were running this winter though. It was the first time in the history of the base that they were running a female majority crew, including the captain, Georgia Martin. It was an honor to be part of such a historic crew. And his bunkmates, Derek Nurse and Chris Chow, were good guys. Sure, he and Nurse had had their differences at first, but they had figured out how to work together. 

Chow definitely still didn’t understand their teasing-based working style, but it worked for them. 

Besides his fear of the complete darkness messing with his head, he wasn’t sure how he was going to last without any of his regular partners around. It was no joke that scientists stationed down here like to get it on, often and creatively, but all of the people Will had been with in the last five months were leaving on the transport day after tomorrow. 

It’s not that he was going to miss the guys he was messing around with; it wasn’t like that. It’s just hard to sustain a healthy attitude without some regular sex! Will was a guy who knew his needs and one of those was regular orgasms. If they were at the hands of a skilled medical doctor (thank you Dr. Oluransi) or under the attention of their best hiker (he will miss River a bit), well, all the better. 

For a while, he’d thought he and Connor Whisk might have something more than just an “ice husband” arrangement, as they called them. But it had fizzled out after a couple of months and Will had moved on. 

No, the problem was, of the remaining skeleton crew there were only two men, who also happened to be his bunkmates and frequent guests in his wet dreams. 

He considered himself bisexual, but he tended to be attracted mostly to men. And while he found Caitlin Farmer quite adorable and certainly wouldn’t mind striking up an arrangement with her (in fact he was quite excited by the prospect), the other four women were either married to each other (Captain Georgia “George” Martin and her wife Lara) and extremely monogamous, or the very definition of lesbians. 

Will had chatted with Denise Ford and Larissa Duan extensively when the three of them had done a drill over the summer, and if he were a betting man, he’d say they were either already together or would be soon. And they definitely weren’t interested in him or anyone who identified as a man. 

So that left the sweet Caitlin Farmer or his bunkmates. And none of them seemed at all interested in him. 

It would be a long six months. 

~

After Will and the remaining skeleton crew had seen off the summer crew, they took their orders from George to stow supplies and begin the shutdown and sealing off of the extraneous spaces of the base for the long winter. 

Will worked slowly and methodically, making sure everything was inventoried, stored, and sealed as needed. Including the enormous stash of condoms that had come in on the last shipment. 

(He knew the stories but he hadn’t really believed them until he had seen the first shipment of condoms.)

At least they were safe about it?

After a day and a half of work, Captain Martin went around and did her double checks before releasing them all to dress for outdoors. They would all go watch the last sunset of the season before they were engulfed in darkness for six months.

As Will layered up in his various pieces of gear, topping it all off with the bright yellow parka they all wore, he mused over how very at peace he felt, considering how isolated from the rest of the world he was about to be.

They all tramped out to the front of the base, where they had a perfect view of the quickly moving sun. It had risen only an hour ago, but already it was beginning to set. 

Derek Nurse slid to a seat on a rock and patted it, so Will sat beside him. 

“Sad to see her go,” Nurse mused. 

“Her?”

“The sun,” he said, as though that explained anything. 

Will just shrugged it off. He didn’t want to pick an argument. He wanted to just enjoy this moment. 

Beside them, the three women who lived in the dorms beside theirs, Farmer, Duan, and Ford, held each other as they watched the sun speed towards the horizon. Will thought he heard a couple of sniffles from beneath their layers but he allowed them their privacy. 

Chris Chow stood with George and Lara, softly discussing something Will couldn’t hear. 

“Just us, now,” Nurse murmured from beside him, wrapping an arm around Will’s shoulders. Will blinked in surprise but didn’t shrug him off. 

Finally, the sun went down, dropping them back into civil twilight, the most light they’d see for a while before they lost even that in a couple of weeks. 

It would be hours before the light faded entirely, but the sun would not show its face over the horizon again until September.

“Well, that’s that, then,” Nurse slapped his leg, though it was a rather muffled sound through all his layers.

The crew all began to make their way inside and Will followed, shooting one last glance over his shoulder to where the sun had disappeared. 

Inside the changing room, they sealed the door and began to shed their layers. Chow, in an effort to free himself from his left boot, ended up falling sideways into Caitlin Farmer and the two of them giggled and apologized over and over as they finished undressing and wandered into the mess hall for lunch. 

All through lunch, the two of them sat close together, speaking quietly, while Nurse and Will exchanged meaningful glances. 

“How long ‘til they hook up, you think?” Nurse whispered to him. 

“Tonight for sure,” Will nodded. “Nobody sits that close without going somewhere with it. 

“Think we’ll get lucky and they’ll use the women’s dorm?”

Will shook his head. “Duan and Ford are definitely already together in there. We’re getting sexiled for sure.”

Nurse hummed and went back to his food. After a few bites, he put his fork down again and turned to Will. 

“Say, you ever play hockey?” he asked. Will started at the change but rolled with it as best as he could. He did really look the type, after all, it wasn’t the first time he’d been asked. He was well over six foot and built like the defenseman he had been until high school. 

“For a while as a kid. But we couldn’t afford the fees. You?”

“Yeah, played through high school.” Will nodded. He could see it now that he was looking at Nurse’s body. “But didn’t have time with the bio degree.”

Will nodded. He had given up a lot to be able to get his degree as well. 

“Why do you ask?” Had Nurse been checking him out, too?

“There’s a tradition of nicknames in hockey. Thought it’d be fun for the crew this winter.”

“Oh, no, I don’t need a nickname. No thank you,” Will shook his head. 

“What, you want me to call you Poindexter for six months? How is that better?”

“Shut up, Nurse,” Will muttered, feeling his ears grow hot. He hated how quick he was to blush. He was a grown man! 

“Pointer? Dexter?” Nurse stroked his short beard. Why did he have to be so hot and so infuriating at the same time?

“Dex!” he exclaimed at last. “Short and to the point. What do you think, Sexy Dexy?”

“Please stop.”

“Oh!” Chow exclaimed from their right. “Are we doing nicknames? Do me!”

Will snorted at the innuendo, laughing to cover the fact that he would gladly  _ do  _ Chow. 

“Hmm,” Nurse tapped his chin. “Chowder?”

“Okay! I mean, it’s not even my favorite food, but I’ll take it!”

“Chow, you don’t have to let him do this,” Will asserted.

“I like it! What’s yours?” he asked Nurse.

“The boys on the team called me ‘Nursey’,” he shrugged. 

“That’s cool!” Chow grinned. “Do Caitlin next!”

“Farmy? Farms?”

“Farms works,” Cait smiled over Chow’s shoulder. “There’s not much to my name.”

Nurse looked towards George and Lara.

“Don’t even think about it,” George warned. Lara just laughed at them. 

He laughed and turned to Ford and Duan. 

“Doo-ey? No that’s dumb. What about something with your first name? Lar… Lardo!”

“Are you kidding me?” Duan asked. “You realize I’m the smallest person on this team, right?”

“That’s why it’s funny!” Nursey cackled. 

Will hid a snort behind his fist. 

“Ford… Fords or Fordy would be traditional, but I think I wanna go a different way. How about Fiesta? Like the car?”

“Works for me,” Ford shrugged.

“Why are you all encouraging him?” Will groaned. 

Chow just patted him on the shoulder. “It’ll grow on you, Dex.”

Will rolled his eyes and got up from the table with his dishes. 

~

After the afternoon’s duties, the eight of them came together for dinner and relaxing in the common room. They naturally paired off, with George and Lara claiming the best seats for themselves, Chow and Farmer still dancing around each other, and Ford and Duan settling in across from Will and Nurse. 

As the evening wore on, the four of them playing a card game, Chow and Farmer got closer and closer on their couch. Until suddenly Will glanced up and Farmer was straddling Chow’s lap and going to town on a hickey on his neck. 

“Oh, geez,” Will whispered, drawing his companions’ attention to the new pairing.

“That actually took longer than I thought,” Nurse mused. 

Duan and Ford laughed and then exchanged a pointed look. 

“Well, I think that’s our cue to head to bed,” Ford declared.

“What?” Will stared at them. “And leave them to use our room instead?”

“You two can hang out here for a bit. Us two, we’ve got things to do in that room of ours,” Duan smirked.

“Didn’t need to know that,” Will mumbled. He still hadn’t gotten used to how openly everyone talked about sex down here, preferring to let it remain an open secret. 

“All good. Dexy and I can chill for a while, let them do their thing.”

“You’re really sticking with the nicknames, huh?” 

“Yes. I am. Night Lardo, night Fiesta!”

“Goodnight, Nursey. Don’t stay up with Grumpy Pants too long,” Lardo offered her fist and Nurse bumped it, then Will. 

“Night,” Will said. 

It didn’t take long for the other two couples to wander to their rooms, Will noting that Farmer and Chow did, in fact, take the men’s dorm. 

Nurse hummed. “Well, you wanna…?” 

Will snapped his head to look at him. Nurse had the brightest green eyes and Will thought he’d happily lose himself in them forever. 

But something else must have shown on his face because Nurse lowered his eyebrows and let out a short laugh. 

“It’s chill, me neither, just thought I’d ask. Seems we’re the odd ones out.”

Will pasted on a smile. “We’ll manage.”

They struck up another card game for a while until the sounds died down from their dorm, then they went to bed as well. 

~

Over the next week, Will trained himself into the habit of peeking around corners, since it seemed Chow and Farmer were attached at the lips any time they weren’t on duty, and even sometimes when they were. 

“Oh, geez,” he slapped a hand over his eyes, turning around and pushing Nurse down back the way they’d come. “They’re at it again.”

“You’d think after a week the shiny new relationship would fade, but nope,” Nurse agreed as he walked. 

“We are so jaded, living down here,” Will chuckled. “A week as a long time?”

“Well, it is here. Relationships come and go in less.”

“I know, I’m just saying.”

“I know, man.”

They went about their work in silence for a while, until it was time to make dinner. Will was technically in charge tonight but Nurse always tagged along and helped on his nights. And he definitely wasn’t complaining. 

“Hey, how long did that thing last with Whisk?”

“Oh, um,” Will thought back. “Two months? I think? Maybe a little less.”

Nurse whistled. “That’s eternal.”

“Shut up, Nurse,” Will felt his cheeks heat.

“Hey, it’s Nursey, now!”

“Shut up,  _ Nursey _ ,” Will shot back, grinning over at him where he was stirring the pasta. 

“Mister Commitment over here,” Nurse continued in a teasing tone. “You ever hook up?”

Will shrugged. “I had a couple of hookup buddies but they both left. And a couple of one-offs, yeah. You?”

Nurse shrugged back. “Never done anything steady, all one-offs for me. That’s just how it is down here, you know?”

Will nodded. He did know. And it was killing him.

“So, how are you gonna do this winter? No rotating partners available, especially now that Chow and Farmer are hooking up on the regular.”

“I’m not opposed to finding a regular arrangement,” Nurse said, studying the bubbling pasta pot. 

“Yeah?”

“Mutually beneficial, of course,” Nurse continued. “If you know anyone who’s interested?”

“I think I know a guy,” Will shot him a grin, feeling his ears heat. He couldn’t be misreading this, right? Please let him not be misreading this.

Nurse finally looked up at him and grinned, then crossed the kitchen and swept Will into his arms, kissing him fiercely. 

Will wrapped his arms around Nurse’s back, gripping tightly to the fabric of his shirt, and tilted his head, deepening the kiss. Nursey let out a small whimper and Will’s heart sped up in his chest. 

They broke apart after only a minute.

“Definitely mutually beneficial, damn, Nurse.”

“I told you, it’s  _ Nursey _ .”

Will grinned and went back to mixing the sauce. 


	2. Chapter 2

During dinner, Chow kept shooting glances at the pair of them and attempting to quirk an eyebrow, though it kept just sending both eyebrows into his bangs. 

Afterward, when they had all retired to the lounge, Farmer sat on Chow’s lap and Nursey, with a smirk, settled onto Will’s. 

“Geez, Nursey, why are you so heavy?” 

Nursey kissed him in lieu of answering and Will found he couldn’t be mad.

“What’s this?” Farmer asked.

“A mutually beneficial arrangement,” Nursey answered.

“Well, don’t let me stop you,” she grinned at them, snuggling into Chow.

Nursey leaned down and kissed Will again, and Will fisted his hand in Nursey’s shirt. 

Damn, he was a good kisser. He wouldn’t survive the winter if this kept up. 

Nursey ran his hand around Will’s waist and twitched up the hem of his shirt. Will hummed encouragingly and slipped his own hand under Nursey’s shirt, pressing his palm to hot skin. 

“Damn,” Chow whispered.

“I know, they could at least wait ‘til they’re alone,” Farmer said. 

Will pulled back and shot them a glare. “Like you two are any better!”

“We’ll just leave you to it, shall we?” Farmer grinned and stood, pulling Chow with her off the couch. “See you later, boys.”

Will knew he was blushing but he didn’t really care. He had Derek Nurse in his lap, waving coyly to their friends and looking as though he was settling in for a good long makeout. 

“You’re so cute when you blush,” Nursey whispered in his ear before trailing kisses down his neck. 

“Fuck, Nursey,” Will groaned. “You’re going to kill me.”

“Are you complaining?” 

“Not at all,” Will growled, gently biting into Nursey’s shoulder. 

“Fuck,” Nursey echoed. 

He swung one leg over Will’s and ground down on his lap. Will, in response, slid his hands over his jawline and pulled him in to kiss him again, trying not to arch up too obviously.

By the time they decided it was about time to move to the bedroom, the others had all left. 

“Think Chow and Farmer are in the dorm?”

“Probably, yeah. Do we care?”

“Probably not,” Will grinned, letting Nursey pull him from the couch and down the hall, stopping to push each other against the wall every few steps. 

When they finally made it to their dorm -- a walk that normally took thirty seconds stretched into ten minutes -- they opened the door and found Farmer and Chow still going at it on Chow’s bed. 

“Um… occupied?” Farmer told them, pushing Chow’s face back between her legs as he made to look up. 

“Well everywhere else is, too, so unless you want to clean bodily fluids off the communal couch?” Nursey smirked. 

“Fine, you can stay, but don’t watch,” Farmer sighed. “Chris?”

Chow looked up. “Fine with me,” he grinned at her, then went back to his task. 

Farmer waved them off and leaned back again, groaning in pleasure at whatever Chow was doing. 

Nursey grabbed Will’s hand and tugged him towards his bed, pushing him down onto it before straddling him again. 

“Mmm,” Will hummed, pulling Nursey close by his shirt. “Can I take this off?”

“Yeah,” Nursey murmured, whipping the offending article off. 

Will ran his hands up Nursey’s chest. He was subtly muscled in the way a lot of the guys on the base were. They kept fit lifting equipment and kayaking, but building muscle for the sake of muscle was not a priority, though his abs were a work of art so he must do some regular upkeep.

When he reached his nipples he swirled his fingers around each and pinched lightly. Nursey gasped above him. 

“Yeah, do that again.” 

Will happily obliged, pulling Nursey down for more kisses while he teased his nipples. 

“This is so unfair, your shirt too?”

Will sat up and stripped his own shirt as well, watching Nursey track his blush down his chest. He knew it went all the way down to his navel when he was worked up like this. 

He was pulled from his thoughts by a moan from the other bed and he snapped his head automatically towards them. Farmer was arching up on the bed as Chow ran his hands up her body. 

Nursey gently pressed a hand to his chest and Will laid back easily, turning back to grin up at him. 

Once he was settled, Nursey ran his hand down his chest and fingered at the waistband of his jeans. 

“Yeah,” Will whispered, and Nursey began to undo his pants, Will reaching up for his as well. 

Soon, both in only their boxers, they fell back together, Will pressing his erection up into Nursey’s.

“Shit, yeah, Will,” Nursey hissed, trailing kisses down his chest. 

They grinded against each other a few moments, gasping into each other’s mouths, before Will flipped them over, pulling down his boxer briefs and Nursey’s together, and taking them both in his hand, stroking a few times but it was too dry even with their precum. 

Nursey flung an arm out to the side and fumbled in his nightstand drawer, withdrawing a bottle of lube. Will snagged it out of his hand and poured a generous amount into his hand before gripping them both again.

He leaned down and latched his mouth onto Nursey’s nipple, teasing it with his tongue and biting down gently. 

Nursey arched up into his hand and swore loudly. 

“I’m so close,” Will whispered against his skin. 

In response, Nursey grabbed at his face and pulled him up for another kiss, moaning into his mouth. Will groaned back and tensed as he felt himself coming all over Nursey’s chest. 

“I’m gonna --” Nursey moaned before spilling out over Will’s hand as well. 

Will dropped onto one side of him, sighing contentedly. 

“We should clean up,” Nursey mumbled. 

“Catch,” called Farmer. Will looked up in time to see a wet washcloth lobbed towards them. 

Will threw a hand up just in time to catch it, then wiped Nursey’s chest down with a grin. 

“Perks of sharing a room, huh?” Nursey grinned back. 

“Don’t get used to it,” Farmer shot back, but she was grinning. 

~

In the week that followed, Will felt a bit bad that he had been annoyed at Chowder and Farms — he was warming to the nicknames, okay? — making out in every spare minute because he and Nursey were doing the same now.

He was in the lab at the moment, but he kept getting distracted from the specimen under his microscope by the fact that Nursey was across the bench from him in a lab coat over a deep cut v-neck tee. 

Will could just make out the curve of Nursey’s collarbone and a hint of his chest hair and it was completely unfair. How was he supposed to finish his lab shift when Nursey looked so damn good? 

His cheeks felt hot and he knew his entire face was red as he set his eye back to the microscope and tried to think unsexy thoughts. 

“You alright, Dex?” Nursey asked.

Dammit. 

“Just a little warm. I think I’m gonna go grab some water. You want any?”

“Sure, bro,” Nursey flashed him a smile and Will hoped his blush hadn’t deepened, though he knew it had. 

“Be right back.”

In the hallway, Will leaned against the wall for a moment until he was sure his flush had receded, then hurried down to the kitchen to grab two water bottles. 

He pressed one against the back of his neck for a moment then returned to the lab. 

“Hey,” he greeted, waving one of the bottles in the air.

“Chill,” Nursey replied, leaving the bench to come over and take the bottle. Will rolled his eyes. 

“You have got to stop saying ‘chill’, dude,” he said as he unscrewed his bottle. 

“What’s wrong with saying ‘chill’?” 

“We’re literally in Antarctica. We are, by definition, chill.”

Nursey chuckled then took a drink of his own water. Will gulped at the image of Nurse holding the bottle to his mouth. 

“Chill, Dex,” he teased. Will shoved him lightly and laughed. 

~

They tried to take turns with the men’s dorm but there were only so many hours off duty and they were a horny bunch. 

He and Nursey stole every spare moment to run off to the dorm and undress each other, quickly learning each other’s bodies and enjoying every moment of it. 

Nursey turned out to be quite an impatient partner, stripping Will efficiently and running his hands and mouth all over him.

Will generally preferred to take his time but Nursey’s hands and mouth were talented and he found he couldn’t complain once they got going, too busy moaning for more. 

When they took it in turns, Will liked to take Nursey apart bit by bit, forcing him to slow down and enjoy the moment. 

“Fuck, Dex, your mouth,” Nursey moaned from above him where Will kneeled between Nursey’s knees on the narrow bed. “More, faster, please,” he begged. 

Will sped up only a tiny bit and felt Nursey’s hips twitch beneath him. Making eye contact and moving slowly to give Nursey time to say no, he pressed his hands to them and pressed gently into the bed.

And suddenly Nursey was coming under him.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry, I meant to warn you!” Nursey scrambled.

“Nursey, chill,” Will smirked. 

“You told me I couldn’t say that anymore!” Nursey complained. 

“Yeah but it’s funny when I do,” Will grinned. 

“Yeah, we’ll see who’s laughing once I recover from that. Fuck that was hot though.”

“Yeah? You like a little pressure?”

“Hell yeah,” he said. “Hips, arms, very good. Not wrists though.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The door flung open and Farms and Chowder blew in like a storm, already grabbing at each other’s clothes.

“Um, guys?” Will called, in case they hadn’t seen them.

“Is this still okay?” Farms asked the pair of them. Will looked at Nursey who nodded so he nodded, too. 

“Yeah alright.” 

The two continued on to Chowder’s bed and Nursey grabbed Will’s arms, pulling him to the bed and leaning over him in a motion that was way too smooth for a guy who tripped over his feet daily. 

“My turn,” he murmured, running his hands down Will’s chest before kissing him deeply. 

Will moaned into the kiss and heard an echo from the other bed. 

And damn if it wasn’t hot. 

“Nursey, slow down, this isn’t a race,” he gasped as Nursey began trailing kisses wet and sloppy down his chest. 

“I’d win if it was, you’re such a tease,” Nursey smirked up at him, but he did slow down, covering Will’s torso in kisses and a couple of marks, he was sure, before running his hands down Will’s thighs and cocked an eyebrow at him, his mouth hanging right over Will’s erection.

“Yes, fuck yes,” Will moaned. 

Nursey bent and took him in his mouth and Will fell back on the bed, his vision sparking with pleasure. 

“You’re good at that, damn Nurse.”

He fisted his hands in the sheets and tried not to move. Nursey  _ was _ good at it, and soon his attentions were threatening to bring Will to the edge, his tongue teasing at the head and his hand around the base to make up for what he couldn’t fit in his mouth. 

“Nursey, I’m close,” Will gasped. 

Nursey pulled off and began to jerk him off with his hand, a lazy smile on his face as he gazed up at Will.

“Come for me,” Nursey whispered.

And then Will was coming as suddenly as Nursey had before. He didn’t even know he had that kink.

Nursey crawled up Will’s body and snagged the wet washcloth they’d flung over the headboard. 

(George would kill them if she found them naked in the hall going to clean up so they’d developed a plan after that first time.)

As Nursey ran the cloth over his chest, Will sighed.

He hadn’t expected to enjoy this quite as thoroughly as he had been, even if they were sharing a room. (Maybe especially because they were sharing a room if he was being honest) But Nursey was good in bed, and they were good together, and Will found he was no longer dreading the long winter alone or fearing the two of them falling apart and still having to live together. They were solid. 

Sure it had only been a week but Will had a good feeling about it. 

He tugged Nursey closer and the other man easily molded his body to fit around Will’s.

“Night, Nursey.”

“Night, Dexy.”

“Damn,” said Chowder.

“I know, right?” Farms answered. 

Will flicked them off with a chuckle and fell asleep. 

~

The next day, Farms declared she needed out of the base and got permission for the four of them to gear up and spend an hour outdoors. 

They couldn’t leave the perimeter of the base, since storms blew in quickly and strong and they could be lost if they weren’t within sheltering distance from the door. 

But they were outside. 

It was dark, of course, though Farms had picked the lightest part of the day, so there was a faint glow from the horizon that bathed them in the semi-darkness of nautical twilight. 

Will flopped down on his back and looked up at the stars, slightly dimmed near the horizon but perfectly clear overhead. 

A puff of snow blew up beside him as Nursey flopped down as well. Chowder and Farms settled on Nursey’s other side and they all exhaled into the quiet of the midday night. 

“‘M cold, Dexy,” Nursey said beside him, shifting closer to snuggle into Dex’s side. 

“Me too,” Farms said, and Will could hear her moving in the snow as she cuddled. 

“Oh, hi, Farms,” Nursey said into Will’s jacket. Will raised his head from the snow and saw that instead of snuggling Chowder, she had moved in to wrap around Nursey. 

Will chuckled. “You coming, Chowder?”

“Hella!” Chowder exclaimed, wrapping himself around Farms as well. 

Will reached his arm around and pulled Nursey in tighter. The four of them watched the sky, their breath fogging before it left their noses, and relaxed together. 

Suddenly, Chris gasped and flung an arm at the sky. Above them, the southern lights, Aurora Australias bloomed into bright greens and blues, painting the sky. Will’s mouth dropped open as he watched. 

It was almost romantic, and for a moment, Will found himself wanting  _ more _ .


	3. Chapter 3

Will was daydreaming while folding laundry about asking Nursey to fuck him tonight when Chowder flopped down on the couch with them. 

“Cait and I were talking,” he began, looking between the two of them. “And we really like sharing the room with you two. You’re both really hot and you’re really hot together and we were wondering if you wanted to do something… together?”

“What were you thinking?” Will asked, mind still stuck on the images it had conjured before they were interrupted. 

Chowder shrugged. “We’re open. But we could push all three of the beds together and have some fun.” 

“How did we not thinking of pushing our beds together?” Nursey gaped. 

Chowder giggled. “Think it over. Let us know. And no hard feelings if you aren’t up for it.”

“Yeah, sure, Chowder,” Will smiled at him and waved as he left. 

“What do you think?” Nursey asked.

“Well, I was kinda thinking about you fucking me tonight, if I’m honest. But for future? Yeah, I’m in.”

Nursey choked on seemingly nothing and Will rubbed his back as he coughed. 

“Unless you’re not into that? I’m happy with what we’re doing. Or I could fuck you instead?”

“You trying to kill me, Dex? You can’t just drop that on a guy!”

“Chowder just invited us to have a foursome, it didn’t feel like it was out of nowhere.”

“Okay, fine, yeah.”

“So?”

“Oh I am definitely fucking you and I’m not waiting for tonight,” Nursey said, pulling Will up from the couch and scattering the laundry in his wake as he dragged them to the dorm room.

He closed the door then pressed Will against it, kissing a line down his neck and rucking up his shirt. He let go of Will for a second to whip his own shirt off, then Will gasped as Nursey began to trace down his chest with his tongue and teeth.

“Fuck, Nursey, slow down.”

“Want you.”

“You have me, you don’t have to rush, okay?”

Nursey looked up at him, green eyes blown so wide the color was nearly lost. 

“Yeah,” he breathed, seeming to settle down a little bit. He pulled off his own shirt by the collar then pressed against Will where he still stood against the door. “I’ve got you,” he said softly.

Will shivered, and then Nursey was kissing him deep and hard, and he melted against the door, wrapping his arms around Nursey’s waist and grabbing for his ass. Nursey moaned into his mouth as Will squeezed. 

“We’ve gotta get these off,” Nursey mumbled against his lips as he fumbled for Will’s fly. He got ahold of it finally and pulled the zipper down and pushed the pants off of Will.

“Yeah, yours, too,” Will agreed as he undid Nursey’s too, taking his boxers with them.

“Bed, now,” Nursey demanded. 

Will stuck a thumb under his boxer briefs’ waistband and cocked an eyebrow at Nursey. 

“Yes, fuck yes, take those off and get in bed already.”

Will shimmied out of them and crawled up his mattress, letting his legs fall to the sides and creating a space for Nursey between them. 

Nursey fit himself into the space and pressed himself against Will, kissing him again, this time with their erections flush against each other.

Will reached for the side table blindly, grabbing lube and a condom and pulling back to hand them to Nursey.

“Yeah,” he sighed again.

“I’m gonna finger you so good, Dexy, then I’m gonna fuck you until you see stars.”

“Only thing to see,” Will panted, “down here with no sun.”

Nursey laughed with a snort and Will grinned up at him. But then the lube cap clicked open and Nursey’s fingertip was tracing his hole and his mouth dropped open in a gasp, his legs jerking up automatically to allow Nursey more space.

They hadn’t done this yet, though he had done it enough with other partners on the base, but they were always in too much of a hurry and Will hadn’t been fucked properly in nearly a month, and the wait was killing him.

(He had needs, remember?)

Purposefully, Will relaxed his muscles as Nursey pressed a finger in, slick with lube. 

“Fuck you look good, Dex.”

“Bet I’ll look even better on your dick,” Will said with a cocky smile. 

“You really are trying to kill me, aren’t you?” Nursey whined, before adding a second finger. 

Now it was Will’s turn to swear, because as Nursey began to pump the two fingers he brushed against his prostate, just the once, and there were the promised stars in his vision. 

“Oh my god, Nursey,” Will moaned. “Do that again.”

It took him a few tries but he did hit it again and Will’s hips bucked up out of his control. 

“Want another?”

“Want your dick,” Will gasped.

“You sure?”

“ _ Yes _ .”

“Okay, I got you, hang on.” 

Dex closed his eyes as he listened to the wrapper of the condom open and Nursey slick himself with more lube, then the head of his dick was bumping against his ass and he opened his eyes again.

He nodded and Nursey pressed in, slowly but steadily, then paused to let them both adjust as Will hissed at the stretch.

“Fuck, you feel good,” Will whispered, barely trusting his voice. He loved being filled up like this. 

“You good?” Nursey asked from above him. 

“Yeah, you can move.”

Slowly, as if unsure or nervous, Nursey began to thrust shallowly. 

“Nursey,  _ fuck me _ .”

“Yeah, alright,” Nursey said, thrusting deeper and whining quietly. 

“Yes,” Will gasped. “Yes, God, Nurse you’re amazing. Come here.”

Nursey grinned as he leaned down to kiss him. He couldn’t get as deep at this angle but the fierceness he was kissing Will with made up for it.

Will’s own dick lay ignored between them but he didn’t really care, because everything else felt so good. He was full and surrounded and Nursey’s tongue was in his mouth. And for once Nursey wasn’t rushing things. He was good.

He pulled his arms from around Nursey’s waist and began teasing his nipples, eliciting a gasp from Nursey. 

“Will, I’m not gonna last if you keep doing that.”

The way Nursey had said his name sent shivers up his spine but he pushed that thought to one side for the moment. 

Will slid his hands down and over Nursey’s ass again instead.

The moan he got in response told him this probably wasn’t much better, especially as Nursey’s hips stuttered from their rhythm.

Will snapped his hips more forcefully, pulling them back to their tempo, and kissed Nursey again. 

“Over?” Will asked. He wanted more, deeper.

“Kay.”

Nursey pulled himself from Will and helped him to turn over onto his hands and knees on the narrow bed. 

“Good?”

“Yeah,” Will said. 

Nursey pushed back into him smoothly and it knocked the breath from Will’s lungs. He was so much deeper than before and as Will leaned forward onto his elbows, “Yes! There!”

Nursey sped up his pace a bit, now that he had found the right angle, and began to fuck him with abandon. Will longed to reach under himself and touch his own dick but he couldn’t move with the force of Nursey’s hips. 

“Will, I’m gonna come, fuck, I’m gonna —“

Nursey stilled as he came, crying out. 

He pulled out and tied off the condom, dropping it into the trash can beside Will’s bed. Will flopped to his side, his erection still demanding attention but not keen on waiting ass up for Nursey to be done. 

Nursey curled himself around Will’s back and just as he was about to complain that he wasn’t ready for a cuddle yet, Nursey reached around and wrapped his hand around Will’s dick. 

He began jerking him quickly, knowing that Will was close. 

Then he began to whisper in his ear.

“You like being surrounded like this, don’t you?” 

Will moaned. 

“I thought so. You like feeling me all around you, making you feel good, making you come.”

“Yes, I like it,” Will gasped out. 

“You like when I mark you?”

“Yes,” Will said.

Nursey leaned down and began working on a hickey on his shoulder, biting the taut skin and soothing it with his tongue.

“Derek, I’m gonna come, fuck!” He shouted as he came on Nursey’s hand. 

He stroked him through it, finishing his mark as Will came down from his orgasm.

“Excellent idea,” Nursey murmured. 

“You’re telling me.”

~

Afterwards, Will and Nursey wordlessly joined Chowder and Farms in some journal catch up. 

George had asked how everyone’s peer reviews had been going that morning, one of the things they were supposed to be catching up on during the dark winter months, and Will had exchanged a guilty look with Nursey. Neither of them had cracked open a journal all winter. 

As he perused the first research report, idly jotting notes in the margins and underlining things he wanted to look into, his eyes kept darting over to Nursey. 

He didn’t look as though they’d just come from fucking, but there were a few little tells. His lips were still slightly swollen from kissing Will, and his hair was mussed up in the front from sweating through his orgasm. 

Nursey caught him looking and smiled. Will felt his cheeks heat again. 

Dammit, he was falling for the guy. How could he not? Derek Nurse was as kind as he was beautiful, sweet and funny, and holy shit he was good in bed. 

Will dragged his eyes back to the page and tried to read again.

The same thing had happened with Connor Whisk. He had started up an arrangement and he’d gotten attached. He’d kept it from Connor for a while, but he’d been found out and Connor had called it off. 

He didn’t blame him, they hadn’t agreed to anything like that, but it had happened anyways. Will had thought maybe Connor was falling for him a bit, too, but it had turned out to be one sided, just like this would. 

Will knew he had to keep a tight lock on these emotions and not let anything bubble up to the surface. Get them to disappear completely if he could. For everyone’s sake.

He shook his head and turned the page of the journal.

“What’s got you all hot and bothered, Poindexter?” Nursey teased. 

Will glared at him half-heartedly. “Shut up, Nurse.”

“No, really, I wanna see your journal if it’s got you so worked up,” he said, making grabby hands. 

Looking down, Will realized he had been reading a paper about bacteria. Nurse was gonna tease him for weeks. 

He rolled his eyes but handed over the journal. Nurse read for a moment then looked up. 

“You’re right, their logic is completely flawed. Let me know if you need help with the response letter, ‘kay?”

“Sure,” Will said. He’d have to figure out what logic Nursey was looking at later. After he stopped staring at the way Nursey’s fingers were fidgeting with the edge of the paper. 

He was so fucked.


	4. Chapter 4

“So? Did you guys talk about it?” Chowder asked them after dinner diner that night. 

Will felt his face heat. 

“Yeah we’re in,” Nursey answered. Will nodded, since his answer hadn’t changed even with his realization that afternoon. Maybe it would even help him get over Nursey. 

“Awesome! I’ll tell Cait!” 

He offered a fist bump to each of them then hurried off to where Cait was sitting with her dorm mates and leaned down to whisper in her ear. 

Will was pleased to see she blushed as well, and he waved back when she waved at them.

Then she stood and motioned at them to follow, Chowder leading the way down the corridor. 

Will looked at Nursey who shrugged and got up to join them. Apparently they were going to just jump right in?

Chowder and Farms entered the room first and sat down on Chowder’s bed. Will sat on his own since it was closest to them and Nursey sat beside him. 

“We should lay out some rules before we do anything,” Chowder said. 

“Condoms. On all of you,” Farms said immediately. “Non-negotiable.”

“Of course!” Will agreed. 

“Nobody touches my hair without permission,” Nursey added and they all nodded. 

“I don’t do any sub/dom dynamics,” Chowder said. “Too much to unpack there. Otherwise I’m pretty easy to please.”

“That’s fair,” Nursey said. “I don’t do dynamics either, though I do like to dirty talk.”

“He’s very good at dirty talk,” Will grinned, thinking back to earlier. “I like being directed a bit, but if that’s too much we don’t have to.”

“Good to know,” Chowder smirked. 

Oh yeah, Will was definitely fucked. 

“I don’t want any marks or pinches or hair pulling,” Farmer said next.

Nursey turned to Will. “Same rules or different?”

Will shrugged. “Same is fine with me.”

Nursey nodded so Will continued. “I’m cool with marks and being surrounded but not held down. I’ll tell you if it’s too much.”

“I like a little pressure to keep me in place but only hips or arms, no wrists, definitely no neck,” Nursey added.

“Damn, you two have been busy,” Chowder teased. 

Will felt his face blush again but shrugged. “So how do you want to do this?”

“I still vote for pushing the beds together,” Chowder said. 

Farmer reached below the bed they were sitting on and pulled out bungee cords. “I brought supplies.”

After a while pushing, securing, and testing, the three twin beds were one, stripped to only the top sheets and practically begging someone to have sex on them. 

“How about we start how we have been, except without the no watching rule, and then see where things go?” Nursey suggested.

“After you,” Will gestured to the bed and Nursey climbed on, crawling to the far side to leave room for Farms and Chowder. 

Will scrambled after him, stripping off his shirt and already feeling his pants grow tight. 

(Nursey was gorgeous, okay? Not his fault.)

He laid down on his side next to Nursey and ran his hand over his chest. 

“No fair, I can’t see,” Chowder whined. 

Will looked over his shoulder to shoot him a wink and Nursey took advantage of it to push him back into the mattress and kiss him. 

This was easy, he knew how to do this. He wrapped his hands around Nursey’s waist and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. 

“Yeah,” Chowder whispered reverently. 

Nursey let go to pull off his own shirt and Will took the opportunity to look over at the other two sharing their bed. 

Chowder was straddling Farms and kissing her as he fondled her breasts through her shirt. 

Hadn’t she been wearing a bra before? Oh, there it was, on their other side. 

Nursey pushed at his hip to turn him on his side and slid in behind him as they had been earlier. 

“They’re gorgeous together, aren’t they?” He whispered in Will’s ear, running his hand down his bare chest. “You want to invite them to come over here with us? Maybe press against you, too?”

Will whimpered. 

Chowder and Farms looked over at the sound. 

“Oh that’s a pretty sight,” Farmer said. “May I?”

Will nodded and she slid across the bed to press against his front, Chowder fitting himself behind her as Nursey was. 

Chowder slipped his hand under Farmer’s shirt and continued teasing her nipples as she leaned in and kissed Will. 

He could feel  _ everything _ . Chowder’s hand pressed between their bodies, Nursey’s hips behind his, and Farmer’s tongue in his mouth. 

His pants went from tight to uncomfortable and he scrabbled at them, desperate to relieve the pressure of the zipper against his erection.

Once he had them undone, Nursey helped him shimmy out of them before pressing in again and kissing Will’s neck. 

Will ran his hand along Farmer’s side, then along Chowder’s, relishing in the thrill of new partners. 

They continued making out and exploring, hands moving everywhere across each other’s bodies and clothing getting shoved out of the way, until Farmer broke away. 

For a second, Will thought she was going to call the whole thing off, but she just announced, “Somebody needs to fuck me right the fuck now.”

Chowder laughed and began to pull off his last article of clothing, his boxers. 

“Good idea, babe, but I think I want one of the others tonight. First time and all that.”

Chowder nodded but didn’t stop pulling his boxers off.

“Hmm,” she hummed. “Do you think one of you could fuck me while the other fucked him?”

“God, I love your dirty mind,” Chowder moaned, giving his dick a few pulls. 

“I’m, um, a bit sore, actually,” Will said.

Farmer waggled her eyebrows with a smirk then looked up at Nursey where he was propped on an elbow above Will.

“You up for it?”

“Hell yes,” Nursey said. 

She grinned and directed Chris to lean against the headboard, then sat between his legs and pressed her back against his chest.

Will found the lube where it had been abandoned earlier and Nursey leaned onto his arms, his knees bracketing Will’s and Nursey’s face in Farmer’s lap. 

“May I?” he asked her. 

“Be my guest,” she breathed. Nursey leaned down and pressed her legs apart slightly, before kissing along the insides of her thighs. 

“Good, Nursey?” Will asked, tearing his eyes away from Nursey teasing Farmer. 

“Yeah,” Nursey said between kisses. 

Will lubed up his fingers and circled his ass, feeling the tight skin react beneath his fingertips. 

He pressed in with one, slowly and gently, and Nursey made a punched out sound. Will grinned and began to pump the finger. 

Farmer began to moan and Will looked up to see that Nursey had begun to eat her out and Chowder had adjusted his hold on her to massage her breasts while he kissed her neck. Will saw a slight movement that must have been Chowder’s hips beneath them all and reached down to stroke his own dick.

“Fuck, you’re all so hot,” he groaned.

“More, Dex,” Nursey demanded, and Will hurried to oblige. 

After three fingers had worked Nursey open, he pulled his mouth away from Farmer and pressed his hips back. 

“Fuck me, Dex, fuck me now.”

“Oh hell yes,” Chowder moaned. 

“Wait, me first, easier that way,” Farmer directed, pulling Nursey up her body. Chowder handed him a condom packet and he ripped it open and rolled it on as Chowder let Farmer slide them down the bed to be more horizontal, his body pressed beneath hers. 

“Lube?” he asked her. 

“I’m good,” Farmer breathed. 

First Nursey pressed up and kissed Chowder, wet and open-mouthed, then he leaned down and kissed Farmer deeply, before lining his hips up with hers, Chowder still holding her from behind, and pressed inside her. 

Will tore open his own condom packet, eager to join. 

“Still good?” Nursey asked.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Dex, you next.”

He nodded and added more lube to the condom before lining up with Nursey, who gasped at the first touch of Will’s head against his ass. 

“Yes,” Nursey hissed, kissing Chowder languidly over Farmer’s shoulder. 

Will pressed in, a slow and smooth motion, and the feeling of being inside Nursey nearly overwhelmed him for a moment. 

He froze, breathing heavily, and gathered himself. 

“Okay,” he said finally. 

“Okay,” Nursey agreed. 

Will pulled back a tiny bit, then pressed back in, feeling Nursey shifting his own hips under him. 

Farmer moaned out in pleasure as the combined thrust hit her. 

“Oh my God,” whispered Chowder. One of his hands had disappeared under Farmer while the other still massaged one of her breasts, and Will could tell he was stroking himself as well. 

“Chowder, Chris, wait,” Will gasped as he continued to thrust shallowly. “I want --”

“Yeah,” Chowder agreed, and his arm stilled. 

Will flushed again with excitement to touch Chowder and began to speed his thrusts gradually. Nursey followed his cues and soon they were moving hard together, Farmer writhing beneath them and crying out with pleasure. 

Nursey kissed her again just as Chowder circled her nipple and she began to cry out into Nursey’s kiss, her back arching and her hands clutching onto Nursey’s biceps. 

“Is she--?” Will asked.

“Yeah,” Chowder said. “Isn’t she beautiful when she comes?”

Nursey had slowed down his thrusts, working her through her orgasm but careful not to overstimulate, so Will slowed as well. 

“More, Will, please, I’m so close,” Nursey said.

“Another,” said Farms.

Chowder reached a hand between her and Nursey and began to rub at her clit as Nursey continued to thrust shallowly, Will pounding him from behind causing the only movement.

“Yes, Chris, yes!” Farms shouted, her body tensing again.

“Oh fuck, I’m gonna come,” Nursey groaned, his own body tensing up under Will. Will slammed into Nurse a few more times before he was coming, too. 

He leaned over Nursey’s back, catching his breath, before pulling out and tying off the condom, dropping it into the bin. 

Will walked on his knees around Nursey and Farmer as he pulled out and kissed her softly. 

Farmer sat up and Chowder moved from behind her, smiling at Will. 

“You’ve been so patient, made Farmer feel so good,” Will told Chowder. “May I?” he asked, gesturing at Chowder’s leaking dick.

“Please,” Chowder said. 

Will dropped down, his hands on either of Chowder’s thighs, and took the head in his mouth, running his tongue around slowly. 

“Oh fuck!” Chowder exclaimed, fisting his hands in the sheets. Will looked up at him, then took one of his hands and placed it on the back of his own head. 

Chowder tightened his fingers in Will’s hair tentatively and Will moaned and let his mouth fall down Chowder’s cock, taking as much as he could in his mouth and swirling his tongue around as he went. 

“Oh he looks good like that,” Will heard Farmer say. 

“Doesn’t he?” Nursey agreed. 

Will hummed again, agreeing and enjoying the attention. He let Chowder set the pace with gentle pulls to his hair. He could feel his own dick trying to get hard again, even though he had just come, and he jerked his hips uselessly against the air. 

“You really like this, don’t you, Dex?” Nursey murmured from beside them. “Like making Chowder feel good? Like showing our appreciation for how good he was for Farmer?”

“Guys, I’m gonna come, fuck, Dex you gotta--” 

Will pulled off and stroked Chowder through his orgasm with his hand, until he flopped backwards on the bed, flushed and well-fucked. Will crawled up his body, straddling his hips. 

“Next time, I want to fuck you,” he whispered against Chowder’s lips before kissing him.

“Yes, please,” Chowder whispered back between kisses.

They all laid there, exchanging lazy kisses and whispering, until the mess got too much and Chowder decided it was time they got cleaned up.

After clean up had transitioned into a cuddle nap which had transitioned into round two, the four of them finally dressed for bed and went to sleep. 

~

Another couple of weeks passed, with Will learning the shapes of each of his partner’s desires, how best to make them feel good and how best to offer himself to them. The four of them had messed around in various ways each night that week, together and in pairs, until Will was sure he could identify all three of them only by the noises they made in bed.

They had all been together again that night, the three beds tied together, and Will was exhausted in the best way. 

But he couldn’t sleep. 

He just kept thinking of how vocal Cait had been when he’d eaten her out, how sensitive Derek had been, how good Chris had felt inside him. 

He wanted more. He wanted to wake to them all each day, and to make them feel good and feel good himself by their hands and mouths and, well, whatever else they would let him touch. 

He had noticed himself falling for Derek, but the easy intimacy he had fallen into with Cait and Chris had astounded him and instead of helping with his crush on Derek, their new arrangement seemed to have intensified his feelings for all three of them. 

Around and around his thoughts went, oscillating wildly between wondering if he should call it off before he got his heart broken or if he should confess his feelings and hope they felt the same. 

When he finally fell asleep, he slept fitfully and woke often, thinking of his partners and hoping they were dreaming of him. 


	5. Chapter 5

Exhausted and dragging the next day, Will decided he needed to talk to someone. 

He couldn’t talk to George, she’d made it very clear she didn’t care who slept with who as long as she wasn’t involved and everyone was safe about it. That probably extended to Lara. And talking to any of his partners should probably be a conversation with all of them. 

So that left Duan and Ford.

Will checked the schedule and saw that he and Duan had the lunch shift that day. Perfect. 

He fidgeted with the wrappings on the corned beef as he waited for her to finish her onion slicing, then spoke. 

“Hey Larissa, can I ask you a question?”

“I only answer to Lardo now,” she smirked. “But yeah, go for it.”

“So, the thing is, how did you know you wanted to be something with Ford? Besides just ice-wives or whatever?”

Lardo studied him for a moment then leaned against the counter. “It wasn’t a conscious decision. It just sorta happened naturally. We’d been hooking up for a while, like you do, and I realized I didn’t want to hook up with anyone else anymore. We were spending most nights in each other’s beds, we were spending all day together, and I just knew I wanted to be with her. So I asked her to be exclusive. And it worked.”

“You make it sound simple.”

She shrugged. “It was for us. Who are you trying to date, Poindexter? Aren’t you hooking up with like three people right now?”

Will goaned. “That’s the problem.”

“You don’t want to stop hooking up with the other two?”

“No, I want… all of them. We’ve all four been together for a few weeks and it feels like more than just hooking up.”

“Ah, that’s rough.”

“Yeah,” Dex sighed. “But I’m worried if I say anything, they won’t agree and it’ll not only ruin what we’ve got going on, but also the whole dynamic of the base. We’re half the staff right now and two of them are my roommates. Plus, even if they agree, we live in different parts of the country. We have  _ jobs we love  _ in different parts of the country.”

Lardo whistled lowly. “Listen, this might blow up--”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Will interrupted.

“Hey, I wasn’t done. This might blow up, but I really don’t think it will. You all are friends first, and lovers second. And if they take it badly, you won’t lose your friends. I don’t think you’ll lose your lovers either.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Call it a woman’s intuition.”

“I call it bullshit.”

“Fine, call it ‘I’m roommates with one of your lovers and I’m not blind’.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” She smiled at him. “Just, tell them how you feel, okay? And there’s always transfers, you know.”

“Only if you stop calling them my ‘lovers’”, Will grinned back. 

“What do you want me to say, then?”

“Partners is how I think of them,” he shrugged. 

“Well, then go tell your partners how you feel. And if it doesn’t work, I’ll make you brownies.”

“Deal.”

~

He meant to tell them, he did. But each time he made a plan, he lost his nerve. 

The first time, Derek smiled encouragingly at him and he almost went through with it, but instead he just kissed him and then they were making out and the moment was past. 

Chris unknowingly derailed another attempt by moaning over a cookie Will had made for them all and, well, he just had to make him make that noise again but with his mouth this time. 

Cait might have cut off his third attempt on purpose, climbing into his lap when he asked to talk to them. 

He realized after a couple of weeks that he was going to need more of a plan than “talk to them when we’re alone”.

He also realized that he had been thinking of them by their first names for a while, and he wasn’t sure when that happened or what it meant, but he was pretty sure he was completely fucked. 

Next, Will tried to write it down. But after messing it up and filling their trash basket with crumpled letters, he gave up. 

(When Derek had asked him what he was spending so much time on, he had told them a letter to his mom. Which made no sense since no mail went out over the winter and they all kept in touch by email. But he had let Will get away with it.)

They passed the midpoint of winter and Will gave up on telling them. It would happen when it happened. Or it wouldn’t happen and they would go their separate ways. There was nothing he could do about it. 

Instead, he spent his time appreciating his partners, and he thought they appreciated him, too. 

He had gradually started peppering in first names, unable to help himself at first, but the smiles he got from each of his partners gave him the courage to continue doing it. 

At the end of June, Derek sat down beside him in the lounge and laced his fingers through Will’s where he sat reading, opening a journal of his own and not saying a thing. 

Will froze, but forced himself not to tense. Derek squeezed his hand as he turned a page, and Will exhaled. Hope rose in his chest. 

A few days later, Cait snuggled up to him in the lounge and fell asleep on his shoulder. 

A week after that, Chris sat on a footstool in front of him and took Will’s foot and rubbed at the arches without a word. Will did his best not to moan as Chris dug in. 

(He wasn’t entirely successful.)

He began giving in to his own impulses, too. He doled out back rubs, kissed cheeks and foreheads, and made tea. He shared secret smiles, held hands, and cuddled. He set aside Chris’ favorites when it was his turn to cook because he was so cute when he got excited, folded Cait’s laundry for her since she hated doing it herself, offered massages to Derek when he could see extra stress in his shoulders, and his gestures were always returned and appreciated. 

Maybe it would all work itself out? He could hope. 

~

The first day of nautical twilight arrived without fanfare in late July, hidden by a storm. But Will had marked the date on his calendar and he was sure to make a good dinner for the team that night. The end of winter was near. 

Will still hadn’t told them how he felt. 

Instead of telling them, though, he was in bed with them again. 

He had been hanging out with Cait in the women’s dorm and she had mentioned that she brought a strap-on in her luggage and Will had blushed from head to navel in an instant. 

She grinned like the cat that caught the canary and proceeded to strip him efficiently, pulling out lube and fingering him open until she could rail him into the mattress with it. As she slid in, Will gasped and when he came back to himself, he could hear Cait praising him. 

“You take it so good, Will. It’s bigger than either of our boys, isn’t it?” 

“Yes,” he choked out. She hadn’t even started moving yet and he was already overwhelmed. 

“You can take it though, can’t you?” 

“Yes,” he said again. 

“I’m gonna move now, alright?”

“Please.” Will pushed back into her and she chuckled before pulling back and slamming back into him again, throwing stars into his vision. 

“Oh God,” he moaned as Cait set a good pace. 

Derek and Chris found them partway through, Cait buried in Will, her hands on his hips hard enough to bruise. Will preened as they gaped at the site of him on her strap. 

“Oh, Will, you look so good,” Chris murmured. “Can I sit?” He gestured at the bed in front of him as he fidgeted meaningfully at the button of his pants. 

Will dropped his mouth open in invitation.

Chris immediately dropped his pants and settled himself in front of Will. 

Will lost track of Derek except for some noises from behind him as he lost himself in the scent of Chris as he sucked him down and the feeling of Cait filling him from behind. 

Cait leaned over his back after a few more thrusts and Will came with his mouth full of Chris and his ass full of Cait’s strap, surrounded by her, held by her.

Cait pulled out of him after he came down and Chris pulled him up to kiss him deeply as he jerked himself off, coming between them moments later. 

He collapsed with Chris and watched as Derek ate Cait out, strap abandoned on the side of the bed, pumping his own dick and moaning obscenely. 

Chris got off the bed — it seemed tiny compared to the miles of mattress they usually used when they were all together — and wrapped himself around Derek, taking over the jerking and whispering to him as Derek buried his face further in Cait.

It was all so perfect.

But later, laying on the cobbled together twin beds again, mostly naked and not bothered about it, nestled between Caitlin and Derek with Chris draped across Derek’s chest, it was suddenly all too much. 

He sat up and pulled himself from the bed, wrapping a robe around himself and turning to look at his partners. 

“Will? What’s wrong?” Cait asked, sitting up on the bed.  

Chris’ eyebrows disappeared into his bangs with concern as he and Derek sat up as well.

“I need to tell you something,” Will said. He looked at all three of them, unsure where to land his gaze, before looking down at his own hands. “I didn’t mean to, but I’ve kind of developed feelings. I know that wasn’t our arrangement and I understand if you want me to leave, but I have to tell you.”

He dragged his eyes back up to find Derek staring at him with wide eyes. 

“For Derek?” Chris asked gently.

Will looked at him and shook his head. “For all of you.”

They all looked at each other for a moment and Will continued, words flying from his mouth. 

“It’s just that this winter has been everything to me. And sure, we party and we hook up and the sex is  _ amazing _ but it’s…  more than that. I feel safe when I’m with you guys. I feel like I can talk about anything and you won’t judge me for it. I know how to make you happy and you make me happy in turn. It just feels like more. And I don’t want it to end when we go home.”

“Oh, Will,” Chris spoke at last, standing from the bed. “I don’t want it to end, either.”

“Me neither,” Derek agreed. 

“Same,” Cait nodded. 

“This has been so much more than just an arrangement. It has been for a long time,” Derek said.

“Really?” Will asked, hoping the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes weren’t visible. 

“Really,” Chris said.

“If you guys are playing a trick on me --”

“We would never,” Cait cut him off. “We all care about you so much, Will.” She stood as well. 

“Can we hug you?” Chris asked. 

Will nodded as he felt the tears finally escape his eyes, pulling his partners in tightly around him. 

They were gonna be alright. 


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Will slipped into George’s office and asked for a word.

“Of course,” she smiled, gesturing for him to close the door behind him. “What can I help with?”

“I wondered what the protocol was for a transfer request. Back home.”

“Oh!” George blinked but regained her composure quickly. “Something bothering you, Will?”

Will smiled and shook his head. “The opposite. I’d like to apply to move to the New York lab. Actually, Cait, Chris, and I all want to apply for a move. But as I’m the one with the morning off, I got volunteered to talk to you.”

“I suppose that would be something to do with a certain green-eyed scientist stationed there?” There was a twinkle in her eye now and Will grinned. 

“Something like that. Derek’s the only one with a project that can’t be moved, so we’ve decided to all try to move there instead. I understand if you can’t get us moved, we can find other ways to do it—” 

“Oh no,” George cut him off. “I’m not losing three of my best researchers. I will get those transfers working right away. I’ll drop off the forms at dinner tonight.”

“Really?” Will found himself asking again.

George laughed, then. “Yes, really. None of you are particularly ingrained in your labs right now anyways, since you’ve been here for a year, so it should be simple. We’ll get the process moving as soon as we can.”

“Thank you, George.”

“You’re welcome. And Will?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you’re happy. Here, and in general.”

Will felt his cheeks heat. “I really am.”

“Good. You deserve it.”

~

Too soon, it was the day of the first sunrise. 

They still hadn’t heard back about their transfers, so they were all going back to their home labs and would have to wait weeks if not months to get their requested transfers. Will was trying very hard not to think about the fact that he was heading back to Maine for the foreseeable future with no telling when he would see any of them again. 

Best to live in the moment.

There would be only a couple of hours of sunlight, but the team planned to stay outside for the full time. They trudged out around 11:00 that morning and watched the sky lighten until finally the sun rose over the horizon.

Beside him, Cait broke into tears, and Will pulled her in close, blinking back his own tears, Chris’s hand clutched in his and Derek holding Cait’s on the other side. 

“I love you,” Will whispered into Cait’s hair. “I love you,” he told Derek, over her head. “I love you,” he squeezed Chris’ hand. 

Derek curled himself around Cait and Chris came in around Will, and the four of them clutched each other, exchanging whispered “I love you”s in the light of day. 

~

They had one more night together before the supply plane would arrive. The four of them would be going home tomorrow. But as Will lay in bed with his partners that night, he realized he was already home, here in this bed with these people. 

He rolled to his side and pressed kisses to Chris’ bicep. 

“One more night,” he whispered. 

Cait curled around him from behind. “We’ll be together again.”

Will closed his eyes. 

“Not like this,” he said instead of voicing his worries. 

“I am going to miss this,” Chris sighed.

From Chris’ other side, Derek reached and took Will’s hand. “Then we’ll have to make tonight one to remember.”

Will grinned at him and raised an eyebrow. Derek nodded and they both began to kiss down the stretches of Chris’ skin between them. 

Chris moaned and Will grinned before leaning further to capture his mouth in a deep kiss. 

As Derek began to tease Chris, Will ran kissed down Chris’ neck, pressing his love into each kiss.

Derek lifted one of Chris’ legs and began to tease his ass as well and Chris cried out. 

“Shall I put that mouth to good use, boys?” Cait asked, climbing over Will and straddling Chris’ face. She gripped the headboard as Chris began to lick at her noisily.

Will wrapped his hand around Chris’ dick, already hard, and began to slowly jerk him as Derek produced lube from the side table and started pressing into him. They struck up a rhythm together and Will could feel Chris’ moans vibrating from his chest under his lips as he covered Chris’ torso with wet kisses, then shifted up to trace up Cait’s leg and lower back. 

Derek gently pulled him away after a few moments into a searing kiss over their partners, Will working to maintain a rhythm as Derek kissed him. 

Suddenly he felt a hand around his own dick and looked down to see that Chris had freed one arm and taken him in hand. 

Derek added lube to Chris’ hand then pulled Will back in for another kiss. 

Will’s head was swimming with want and with love for these people, his partners, and he thrilled as Derek’s hand found his and wrapped both of them around Derek’s dick, drawing a gasp from him.

Above them, Cait began to shake with the effort of holding herself up over Chris, then she shouted as she came on his face. 

She shifted back to sit on his chest and leaned down to kiss her taste out of his mouth. Derek quickened the pace he was fingering Chris with and Will followed, jerking him quickly until he was coming, too. 

Derek pulled Will back in to kiss him again, lacing his fingers through Will’s hair. Will crawled over Chris and pressed Derek down into the bed beside the other pair, wrapping his hand around both of them again. 

It was oddly reminiscent of their first time together as they gasped and breathed into each other, racing to climax and running their hands, lips, and tongues over each other’s skin. 

All too soon, he was coming, his hips shaking over Derek’s as he spilled onto his partner’s stomach. 

He collapsed onto Derek’s far side and reached for his dick again, but Cait nudged him away and instead wiggled a condom at Derek. 

“Yeah,” Derek grinned, propping himself onto his elbows to kiss Cait as she rolled the condom onto him. She sank down onto him smoothly, and he reached up to tease her nipples as she braced herself on his chest.

Will stared up at them and felt his heart would burst with happiness. 

He met Chris’ eyes across them and smiled softly. Chris smiled back and then leaned down to kiss Derek. Will snuggled into Derek’s other side and ran his hands over his partner’s body as he thrust up into Cait. 

“More, I need more,” Cait gasped. Will was happy to oblige, slipping his hand between them and finding her clit, letting Cait rock herself on his hand and Derek’s dick until she cried out again, pulling Derek along as he curled up from the bed in his own release at last.  

Will helped Cait maneuver into the space between himself and Derek as Chris disposed of Derek’s condom and the four of them lay quietly for a long moment, just breathing. 

He was so full of love and joy he didn’t think he’d ever sleep, but soon he was waking from his post coital nap to Derek wiping him off gently. 

“Thanks, love,” Will mumbled, reaching for Derek and pulling him back in the bed. 

~

They woke the next morning to a knock on the door and they all scrambled to dress before Derek opened it to find George with a soft smile on her face. 

“Thought I’d find you all here,” she said. “May I come in?”

She entered the room and raised an eyebrow at the beds roped together. “Creative.”

Will felt his face flush.

“I won’t keep you, I know you need to pack and get ready still, but I wanted to let you know that your requests have been approved. All three of them. Chow, Farmer, and Poindexter, you’ll report to the New York facility one month from tomorrow. That should be plenty of time to wrap up things at your home labs and make arrangements.”

Cait gasped and her hands flew up to her mouth as Chris grabbed Will’s hand. Derek looked frozen. 

“Congratulations. And thank you all for your hard work this winter. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Thank you, George,” Will finally managed to say. “Really, thank you for pushing this through.”

“Your work stood on its own merits, I merely recommended you. But you’re welcome.”

Will grinned at her as he blushed again. 

“Shouldn’t you be packing?” she asked before turning and leaving them in the room. 

“Oh my God,” Chris whispered. “Oh my God!” 

He fell into Will and wrapped around him. Behind him, Derek wrapped around Will, too, and Cait fit herself to their other side. 

“We’re gonna be together,” Chris said. “I can’t believe it actually happened! We’re actually gonna be able to stay together!” 

Now that he had started talking he didn’t seem to be able to stop, rambling over and over how happy he was and how he couldn’t believe it. 

Will drew back and took Chris’ face in his hands. 

“Chris,” he stopped the rambles. “I love you.”

Chris grinned back, tears glistening in his eyes, and he began to ramble love instead, pressing it into each of them with tender kisses. Will smiled and let his own tears fall, secure in his partners’ arms. 

~

Will Poindexter had heard the stories, of course. He had been in this field for over a decade. He knew what winter in Antarctica was like. 

But it was better than he had ever imagined. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading! This is the longest smutty thing I've ever written and I had such a good time with it. I never thought when I took it on that it would turn into over 12k of smut with feelings but here we are. Hope you enjoyed it! Come yell at me on [tumblr](https://willdexpoindexter.tumblr.com/).


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